In the ever-evolving landscape of development tools, Cursor emerges as a stark reminder that not all that glitters is gold. What initially presented itself as a revolutionary AI-powered code editor has quickly revealed itself to be nothing more than a toy for hobbyists and a profound disappointment for professional software engineers.
The most egregious offense Cursor commits is its complete disregard for the workflow nuances that professional developers rely on daily. The absence of proper next word/line completion via keyboard shortcuts (Alt+RightArrow) is not merely an oversight—it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of how real developers work.
Instead, we’re force-fed the TAB completion—a blunt instrument that completes entire code blocks at once. This “one-size-fits-all” approach demonstrates an appalling lack of appreciation for the precision and control that professional coding demands. It’s as if Cursor was designed by people who have never actually written code on a deadline or maintained a complex codebase.
What’s most infuriating is the transparent strategy at play: Cursor has deliberately chosen to cater to coding dilettantes and “prompt engineers” who are satisfied with tab-completing their way through development. These midwits—content with whatever the AI spits out—have become Cursor’s target demographic, while actual software engineers are left with an unusable tool.
The message is clear: Cursor doesn’t respect the craft of software engineering. It’s banking on users who don’t know any better, who will marvel at blocks of code appearing as if by magic without understanding the critical need for granular control that real development requires.
Cursor’s trajectory is as predictable as it is disappointing. By alienating professional developers in favor of casual coders, they’ve sealed their fate. The initial novelty will wear off, and what remains will be a tool that’s too simplistic for professionals and too convoluted for beginners.
Their failure to implement basic functionality like proper word/line completion via standard shortcuts reveals either a stunning incompetence or a callous disregard for professional needs. Either way, it’s a death sentence for any tool that purports to serve the software engineering community.
If this tool stops you from being a Professional Developer.. you were never a professional developer. This is nothing more than a tool to automate some things.
Looks like you meant “VSCode” when you said “Cursor” here. What kind of “Professional Developer” are you, that you didn’t even notice you’re talking about something that’s not even “Cursor” to start with?
Just add a hotkey for toggling autocomplete / tab suggestions. Then it’s there when you want it and not and when you don’t. For me its usually off until I sense there’s something it’d be useful for. The more I use it the more I know when its useful for it to be on and useful to be off
It seems to me that there has to be some way for the brilliant minds that created this tool to make it work in a way that is functional for serious programmers. I am likely one of the midwits you’ve referred to but I am extremely happy with cursor and what it is done for me so far.
There are so many blockers when a person with my level experience, and it isn’t small with web development in general. I think in a way you’re complaints and my positive perspective point to a possible world where deeply experienced programmers can eventually have a tool that will do everything they want to do and mitwits such as myself can accomplish what we would like to do as well.
So, I have faith in Cursor today, and I say today because I have been disappointed recently but mostly it has been due to my lack of knowledge about developing a scaffolding for my particular needs. In the end I completely bypassed the need for a systems administrator who in the past I’d have been constantly going back and forth with to get my work environment set up.
I think I’m likely to find with my present trajectory that I’ll be disappointed with its ability to actually implement UI designs but I am seeing clearly that these problems will be overcome eventually. I am very confident that the team at cursor will find a way to make this tool work for professional developers as well as it is for me now. That is to say that I hope it will grow with me as I learned an aspect of my business that I have never been able to manage on my own. That has changed 100%. Perhaps a separate mode with more standardized programming methods and thinking could be implemented by the cursor team. I am very confident they can do that.
These are just the very beginning days of AI assisted coding, programming, web development, systems administration, web and application design or whatever you need to do with your bits and bites. For me, it is working very well enough as long as I keep in mind that it may make mistakes, has (fast falling) limitations and I that still need to be a human and fix them or more importantly recognize them.
Anyway I am sure this is all going to work out in the end for creatives at least and very likely professional programmers. If the writer of the above and others of his or her ilk were to write a critique, detailed, from your perspective I am certain that if not Cursor someone else will pick up the reins and mash together a wonderful tool for the pros to use. I do however think it will be this team to accomplish that.
There’s a whole range of similar tools that will suit you better and that I will not name here. It’s not Cursor or nothing. The market is quite healthy regarding these tools. @aaravq
